Nicole Gray

Recent Stories

To be clear: Prairie View A&M Foundation’s Third Annual Fundraising Gala was a clear call to action. From its opening remarks delivered by the Master of Ceremony, KHOU TV Anchor Len Cannon, to the closing remarks delivered by one of the Foundation’s Trustees and Vice Chair, Dr. Donetta Goodall, the message was clear: donations, like those made to the university through PVAMF, directly impact the ability of the university to offer a quality of education to its students and ensure future success in their chosen fields, communities, and the world-at-large.

I’m so glad I went to PVU! I’m so glad I went to PVU! Singing glory hallelujah, I went to PVU!! If you’ve ever attended or have otherwise affiliated with a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), then you likely recognize the tune in my intro. Beyond simple recognition, the tune may even evoke a level of nostalgia unparalleled by thoughts of any other period in your life. I know for me, when I think about my alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, my heart swells with pride.

To be clear: money, power, and sex have been longtime bedfellows. No matter where you look, on the blocks, in churches, schools, boardrooms, politics, Hollywood, the music industry, you name it and you will likely see them together. From the pimp on the street corner using his money and power to both dominate and dazzle ‘his’ women to the president admitting that powerful men can walk up to women and do whatever they want, in almost every aspect of life, you can find scenarios that validate the fact.

To be clear: untreated severe mental illness places a great burden on our legal system. The Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1998, dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness captures the issue succinctly: “Fifty years of failed mental health policy have placed law enforcement on the front lines of mental illness crisis response and turned jails and prisons into the new asylums.”

To be clear: I have given my share of benedictions. I have told people where they can go and how fast they can get there. My benedictions normally followed something hurtful that was done or said to me and the dismissal was for self-preservation.

I’m black and I’m proud! Some of you may recognize my intro from James Brown’s popular 1968 hit, “Say It Loud!” The song was an anthem with a call and response chorus that was not only infectious but also empowering. It starts with James Brown saying “Uh! Your bad self!”

To be clear: I agree that immediate action is needed to protect our children from recurring gun violence in our schools. In fact, just two weeks ago I wrote a call to action, here, urging that “Our Schools Have Become Warzones, Our Children at the Front Lines: Question Is, When Are We, ‘The Adults, ‘ Going to Join Them?” Is the best course of action to put more guns in our schools without any restrictions on gun purchase or ownership though?

To be clear: hyper-partisanship poses a greater threat to our elections than any foreign government ever will. As the race for 2020 comes to a slow boil with 23 Democratic candidates currently vying for the nomination to oppose President Trump, the partisan politics have already begun to shape the issues we are supposed to really care about.

To be clear: this is not an attack, rather a light that, hopefully, sparks a sense of urgency in adults across this nation to step up to the front lines of this war against increasing gun violence in our schools. Our children are already there.